Lullabye for a Stormy Night
by missheartilly
Summary: It was a dark and stormy night. There was a big monster who lurked in the forest, ready gobble up little Realians. Or maybe not. One shot Ziggy and MOMO fluff.


**Lullabye for a Stormy Night**

**Summary: **It was a dark and stormy night, and a big monster lurked in the forest, ready gobble up little Realians. Or maybe not. One shot Ziggy and MOMO fluff.

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"Kaboom!" The sound of thunder shook the windows of the house. It was rare that storms came, but it was rainy season in Fifth Jerusalem. The young realian girl shot up in bed, and clutched her blankets.

"Oh, it's only a storm." She murmured. She settled down again in bed, facing away from the window. She didn't know why, but she felt afraid. She had only been living on Fifth Jerusalem for a short amount of time. Still, she felt uneasy with the white walls flashing, and the window pane rattling. There was something unsettling about it. After another crash of thunder, she checked her scanners for any sign of how severe the appraoching storm would be. Just as she feared, it looked to be pretty bad.

She got out of bed, wrapping her pink quilt around her shoulders. The hallway was dark, but she found her way to the living room easily. She was thankful that her mother had asked her cyborg gaurdian to stay with her while she had business to attend to at the orbital tower.

He was sleeping on one of the large chairs in the room. His head was propped up by his right hand, while the other metal one held onto the UMN console controls. MOMO found herself giggling at what flickered on the screen. "Welcome back to the 203rd annual Federation Dog Show!" an announcer proclaimed She wondered for a moment if he had fallen asleep before the program began or during it at some point.

Another bright flash, followed immediately by a very large crack of thunder made the young realian jump. She wondered how her friend could seemingly sleep through this. She crept up to him and gently shook his shoulder. "Ziggy?" She murmured.

"Hmm?" His eyes opened, almost as if he hadn't been sleeping at all. "What is it?"

"Um... " MOMO found herself embarassed by the fact that she was afraid of a thunderstorm. She look glanced down at her hands.

"Is something wrong?" He asked her, sitting up straight.

"No nothing's wrong, I-" MOMO was about to shake her head, as she heard a peticularly loud rumble of thunder. She shreiked and flinched quite visibly.

The cyborg's expression softened as he realized what was troubling her. "You're afraid of the storm?" He asked her.

"Um, I guess so. I'm not really used to them yet." She hung her head almost shamefully. "I'm sorry I woke you up. I'll--I'll go back to bed now." She began to retreat when she felt a tug on her arm.

"It's all right." He said. "The storm would have woken me too." He glanced toward the window, noticing the heavy rain, and the trees swaying heavily in the wind. "It looks pretty severe."

MOMO gave him a nod. "It is." Then she looked down again. "Um... is it too much to ask if you could stay with me until it's over?"

Ziggy shook his head. "No, it's not." He gave her a tiny smirk, the closest thing he could produce to a smile. "It is what I'm here for, after all."

At that moment, lighting hit extremely close to the house. MOMO could almost feel her hair stand on end, and the crash of thunder almost sent her flying into the wall. Ziggy quickly got up and went to her side. He noticed that she was clearly shaking, curled into a ball. He placed his hand on her shoulder, in an attempt to comfort her.

"I shouldn't be afraid of this, it's so silly." MOMO whimpered. "We've... we've seen Gnosis and horrible things and... and I'm scared of a thunderstorm."

"It's all right." Ziggy said quietly. He paused for a moment, and then gave her shoulder a gentle squeeze. "It's perfectly natural to be afraid of things like thunderstorms." Although he knew she was a realian, and technically should not be afraid, he never thought of voicing it. To him, she had always been a real girl.

"Really?" MOMO sniffed, and wiped at her eyes.

Ziggy sat down against the wall across from her, facing away from the view of the window, and then nodded. "Even Shion is afraid of them. I don't see why you can't be."

MOMO smiled weakly and then crawled toward him. She sat beside him against the wall and pulled her legs close to her. "I guess if Shion's afraid of storms, then it's okay," She could hear the wind outside, it was blowing heavily. As more thunder rumbled outside, she began to use her sensors to detect any sign of the storm ending. It was a very large cell, typical for the planet during this time of year. It wouldn't pass for another half hour at least. She also detected a very large wall cloud which would pass overhead within a few minutes. She shuddered and leaned against his arm, clenching her eyes closed.

Ziggy glanced down at her. "Maybe we should move a little further into the hall."

"O-okay. That's probably a good idea. Even though these buildings were made to withstand high winds, there's still a small percentage of damage occuring. We should go somewhere safe." MOMO tried her best to sound brave, but her voice faltered a few times.

Ziggy nodded and then stood up. He offered her his hand, and she pulled herself up. They took a few steps down the hall. MOMO opened the door to a small closet, which was mostly empty, due to Juli not having many belongings. There were just a few coats and some shoes. It was just large enough for both of them to fit inside. Ziggy went in first, leaning against the wall, followed by MOMO. Realizing there wasn't much room for either of them, she sat down on his lap.

Ziggy didn't seem to mind. He covered her shoulders with her blanket. "I think we'll be safe in here." He said.

MOMO leaned against him, resting her head on his shoulder. "Thank you, Ziggy." She said. Although she could still hear the thunder, and the hallway lit up with each flash, she didn't feel as scared.

Having a child-like realian curled up against him caused several faint memories to return. He frowned, as he became lost in his own thoughts. He was only brought back to reality as he felt MOMO flinch, and bury her face practically into his neck. He found himself almost cautiously wrapping his arms around her, in attempt to provide comfort. "It's okay." He said in the gentlest tone he could muster. "I won't let anything happen to you,"

MOMO closed her eyes, and tried her best to relax. She realized then that she had never been held this way. Her mother still seemed distant, although she knew she was trying the best that she could. She knew that one day, she'd be able to rely on her for this kind of comfort and warmth. For now, she decided to enjoy this moment. It wasn't often that she'd be able to see Ziggy, now that she was living here. Furthermore, she knew that he probably wouldn't act this way in any situation where others were around.

There was something about him that seemed to calm and relax her. She could feel the cold, hard metal surface below, and the warm soft one she found herself leaned against. She pondered how much it was like his personality. He was always so cold, detached, and considered himself to be a machine. While, on the other hand, there was something warm, soft, and caring about him. There were still many things about him that were still human. She could hear his breaths and she felt his chest rise and fall, just like any realian's or human's. She decided to concentrate on this sound instead of the thunder outside. She found herself smiling, and she clung onto the fabric of his uniform.

Ziggy listened carefully to the thunder outside, matching each flash of light with the thunder he heard, estimating how soon it would be before the storm has passed completely. He found himself absently stroking MOMO's hair with his right hand. When he realized this, he stopped immediately, and froze up momentarily. Had it been a reaction based on his memories? Had he done this before with his stepson? Or at one time, had his mother done this? He couldn't remember or place it completely. There was no mistake in his mind, however. He was attached to this girl, like she was his own. He knew this some time ago. With a sigh, he continued as he was before, trying his best to comfort her, while counting the seconds between lightning and thunder.

As the sounds of the thunder faded, she found herself being lulled to sleep by his steady breaths and the sensation of his hand against the top of her head. It wasn't long before she sensed herself drifting into unconsiousness.

He hadn't realized it until he felt her flinch in his arms again. By now, there was no thunder or lightning, just the sound of rain hitting the windows in the other room. He glanced down at her, and noticed her eyes were closed, and her hand effortlessly dropped from the light blue fabric that she had been holding onto. He thought for a few minutes about what he should do. He contemplated picking her up and putting her back to bed. Yet he worried that he might wake her in the process.

After a long time of contemplating how to handle the situation in the most efficient manner, his thoughts began to drift. With his enhanced senses, he could hear the sound of rain hitting the windows outside. How long had it been since he fell asleep to the sound of rain? Once again, he looked down at MOMO, who shifted slightly, but remained in a light sleep. Ziggy realized that he may not have this chance again, at least for a very long time. Even then the future was unknown, with the spread of the Gnosis, and the conflicts and wars going on within the Federation. All of that, however, remained far from him. He leaned his cheek against the top of her head and closed his eyes, deciding to remain this way a little while longer.

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**Author's Notes: **This is totally the result of Vienna Teng and fangirlish conversations with Stitchedmoon. Blame them fully if your teeth have rotted out as a result from this fiction. I have NOTHING to do with it. Nope.


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